Burying the hatchet (maybe)
Ten years ago this week, I walked out on Waymaker Christian Fellowship. I've spent most of the time since then picking up the pieces. After all, I'd fought my whole life to get into Carolina--only to have what should have been the happiest six months of my life taken from me. I've blogged pretty heavily on these guys in the past--for more information, read here.
A few days ago, I happened to be perusing Myspace and searching for fellow members of Carolina's class of '00 when I saw the profile of a gal named "Jaime." I thought, That looks a heckuva lot like Jaime Luton. She was one of the more fanatical members of Waymaker--in fact, it was a conversation I had with her that began taking the scales from my eyes about this outfit. In mid-September of '96, the infamous Pit Preacher showed up for the first time. He went into a nasty anti-Clinton tirade, and I asked him where it was in the Bible that God was a Repub. He did a Mexican hat dance around the question. So I wrote a letter to the editor that basically said God didn't give a flip about your politics. Jaime happened to see this letter as well, and I ran into her a few days later in the laundry room. She told me that I had to junk any idea that didn't jibe with the Bible, no matter how strongly I believed it. And I wasn't supposed to even think about it either! I told her there was no way I could reorder my mind to think that way. Her response was breathtaking--"This isn't about differences of opinion, Darrell. This is about your salvation!" I also believe very strongly that Jaime was one of the girls who was in on a scheme hatched by a few girls in that bunch to frame me up for sexual harassment.
Now, back to the present. My curiosity got the better of me, so I clicked. Sure enough, it was her ... but I heard something that threw me for a second. She had a song by a group called "The Roots" playing on her page. It didn't sound like anything I'd expect to hear on a former Wrong-Waymaker's MySpace. A perusal of Wikipedia confirmed it--they're a legendary hip-hop group.
Needless to say, hearing that made me wonder--is Jaime still drinking the Kool-Aid? And even if she is, has she somehow gotten a taste of decency seven years after leaving Carolina? Let's be frank here--as neurotic as I personally find Every Nation's worldview, they have every right to it. Where I draw the line is the outright gangsterism I've seen from this outfit. But believe it or not, it is entirely possible to maintain some semblance of decency even if your theology is ugly. I know--I met only two truly decent people in Waymaker. Unfortunately, one of them graduated in '97, the other in '98.
So now can I add a third to the list? I don't know. While of course I'd be tickled if Jaime has totally renounced Every Nation, I'll be content if she has at least acquired some semblance of decency. Seeing her MySpace made me wonder--was she even in on that frame-up at all? And if she was, has she been trying to apologize to me, only to find my old email nuked and my old MySpace vandalized? I figure I at least owe her that chance. I tried to send her a MySpace mail message, but it didn't work. So the next step is trying to friend her ... we'll see how that goes ...
A few days ago, I happened to be perusing Myspace and searching for fellow members of Carolina's class of '00 when I saw the profile of a gal named "Jaime." I thought, That looks a heckuva lot like Jaime Luton. She was one of the more fanatical members of Waymaker--in fact, it was a conversation I had with her that began taking the scales from my eyes about this outfit. In mid-September of '96, the infamous Pit Preacher showed up for the first time. He went into a nasty anti-Clinton tirade, and I asked him where it was in the Bible that God was a Repub. He did a Mexican hat dance around the question. So I wrote a letter to the editor that basically said God didn't give a flip about your politics. Jaime happened to see this letter as well, and I ran into her a few days later in the laundry room. She told me that I had to junk any idea that didn't jibe with the Bible, no matter how strongly I believed it. And I wasn't supposed to even think about it either! I told her there was no way I could reorder my mind to think that way. Her response was breathtaking--"This isn't about differences of opinion, Darrell. This is about your salvation!" I also believe very strongly that Jaime was one of the girls who was in on a scheme hatched by a few girls in that bunch to frame me up for sexual harassment.
Now, back to the present. My curiosity got the better of me, so I clicked. Sure enough, it was her ... but I heard something that threw me for a second. She had a song by a group called "The Roots" playing on her page. It didn't sound like anything I'd expect to hear on a former Wrong-Waymaker's MySpace. A perusal of Wikipedia confirmed it--they're a legendary hip-hop group.
Needless to say, hearing that made me wonder--is Jaime still drinking the Kool-Aid? And even if she is, has she somehow gotten a taste of decency seven years after leaving Carolina? Let's be frank here--as neurotic as I personally find Every Nation's worldview, they have every right to it. Where I draw the line is the outright gangsterism I've seen from this outfit. But believe it or not, it is entirely possible to maintain some semblance of decency even if your theology is ugly. I know--I met only two truly decent people in Waymaker. Unfortunately, one of them graduated in '97, the other in '98.
So now can I add a third to the list? I don't know. While of course I'd be tickled if Jaime has totally renounced Every Nation, I'll be content if she has at least acquired some semblance of decency. Seeing her MySpace made me wonder--was she even in on that frame-up at all? And if she was, has she been trying to apologize to me, only to find my old email nuked and my old MySpace vandalized? I figure I at least owe her that chance. I tried to send her a MySpace mail message, but it didn't work. So the next step is trying to friend her ... we'll see how that goes ...